Stairs often present hazards to users, notably when they are poorly lit or not lit at all, for example when the lighting to a staircase well fails in whole or in part. It has therefore been proposed to apply a stripe of luminescent paint to the riser of each of the steps of the staircase, which strip will glow in the dark and give the user a guide as to the location of each step. However, such a method can not be applied where the steps are to be carpeted. Furthermore, the paint stripe can only be a temporary solution to the problem, since it is readily scuffed and removed by the soles of users feet or shoes during normal use of the staircase.
It has also been proposed to apply a stip of self-adhesive plastic tape to the stair riser. However, the edge of the strip is readily torn during use of the staircase leading to removal of the strip and a potential safety hazard.
The above problems with paints or adhesive tapes would be aggravated if they were applied to the horizontal tread of the step rather than to the vertical riser, since the abrasion and scuffing action of users shoes or feet is much larger. On the other hand, another problem with paint and tapes applied to the riser of the stair is that they are not readily visible to users of the stairs from above and they do not glow brightly for prolonged periods. We believe that this is due to the fact that they are mounted on the vertical face which is obscured to a person descending the staircase and is a face onto which only a small amount of direct light falls during normal illumination of the staircase.
It has been proposed to fix a strip of a flexible plastic edging strip incorporating a photoluminescent material across the step at the apex of its nose. The photoluminescent material was formed as a bead protruding from the edging strip so that it would be visible to users both ascending and descending the staircase. However, this position exposes the material to the maximum abrasion and wear during normal use of the staircase. Furthermore, it was found that the light emitted from the photoluminescent material rapidly became obscured. It is believed that this was because the material into which the photoluminescent material was incorporated was of a porous nature and that it readily picked up dirt which became firmly imbedded therein, thus reducing the effect of the photoluminescent material.
It has been found that the above problems can be reduced if the photoluminescent material is incorporated into a generally planar member having an abrasion resistant exposed face mounted upon the horizontal tread of the stair and having a metal or similar protective means along its leading edge.
By mounting the photoluminescent material in a substantially horizontal position, the present invention ensures that it will receive the maximum activation from any overhead lighting source and hence be capable of glowing for prolonged periods when the light source is removed. Furthermore, the glow is more readily seen by a user descending as well as ascending the staircase than where the photoluminescent material is located on the face of the riser as hitherto considered necessary. Also, it has been found that any obstruction on the staircase is more readily apparent to the user than when the photoluminescent material is mounted on the riser of the staircase. It has also been found that although the material is mounted upon that part of the stair exposed to severe abrasion and wear, the action of the users' shoes and feet is generally parallel to the exposed face so that they act to wipe the exposed face and thus reduce problems to the build-up and embedding of dirt in the exposed face. The presence of the protective leading edge not only reduces the risk of detachment of the photoluminescent material from the stair tread, but also serves to support part of the load of a users' shoes or feet and thus to reduce wear of the exposed face.